Rich (Benson Security #5) - Janet Elizabeth Henderson Page 0,78

call—if he even remembered it was happening.

But still, the programmer had given Harvard something to go on. The next person he contacted was Elle, and he did it as he made his way downstairs to the guest room.

“Before you ask,” she said instead of hello, “I’ve already started going over the photos and envelope Rachel’s dad couriered to me. It’s too soon to report on whether I’ve found something or not, but when I do, you’ll be the first to know.” There was a silent but unmistakable now stop bothering me at the end of that sentence.

Elle had obviously gone to the same charm school as Harry. “That’s not why I called. I just spoke to Harry, and he mentioned that there’s corrupted data on the server, as though somebody had been trying to cover their tracks. Which means, someone from IT or security was definitely involved in Rachel’s attack. I need you to dig out personnel information for that period.”

“One of the guys Rachel had fired worked security back then.”

“Yeah, but those two were fired long before the drug was stolen.” Harvard kicked off his shoes beside his bed before bending over to tug off his socks. “We need to question anyone else working around the time Rachel was attacked.”

“I’ll get you the names.” She took a deep breath. “Is Rachel okay?”

“She will be—once everyone involved in this is out of the picture.”

“You mean behind bars, right?”

He meant completely out of the picture, and he’d be more than happy to make it happen. But the authorities tended to frown on that sort of thing. “I need to call Ryan. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Try not to kill anyone before then,” she said drolly before hanging up.

With a smile, Harvard called his last team member. “Are you eating?” he asked as soon as Ryan said hello.

“I don’t always eat, but yeah, I have pizza.”

Harvard chuckled. “Did you check in with the surveillance team following our suspects?”

“Absolutely.” There was the sound of a can opening and then Ryan taking a drink. “Samantha’s out on a date this evening, with a young movie star who’s barely out of nappies. They’ve gone clubbing, and their tail thinks they called the paparazzi before they left her condo. Charles is in Kent, checking his wife into rehab yet again. Word is she was running around their garden naked trying to catch imaginary bubbles with a bucket.”

“Okay,” Harvard said. “Wasn’t expecting that.”

“I don’t think her neighbors were either,” Ryan said around a mouthful of food. “Then there’s the shoe guys. What are they called again? Can’t remember the name of the shoes. Doesn’t matter. Anyway, Preston went home to his wife, had dinner, watched the news. Boring. Marcus spent the evening with his mistress, but his wife expects him home later—apparently, he’s got a late emergency meeting. And Rupert’s in the Hippodrome Casino, but he isn’t gambling. Word is, he’s wandering around stroking the tables and slot machines.”

“Stroking?” Harvard arched his brows.

“I only report what I’m told, and his tail said there was definite stroking and he’s resisted all attempts to get him involved in a game. The tail said he looks kinda sad.”

Harvard pinched the bridge of his nose as the craziness of Rachel’s relatives sank in. “Were any of them anywhere near Roger’s house this afternoon when the envelope was delivered?”

“That’s a negative. But then, they wouldn’t have to be. I asked Elle to hack into the CCTV cameras on the road leading into the property and look for couriers.”

“What about the cameras on the Talbot estate?”

“They’re only on the main house and public grounds. Seems the family don’t like cameras on their residence.”

“I need to have a word with them about that.” It was a dumb thing to do for people in their position. No matter how much you valued your privacy, safety came first. Harvard unbuttoned his shirt. “Keep surveillance on everyone over the weekend. In the meantime, prep what you need for Monday’s board meeting. Hopefully, we can get some answers then.”

“No kidding,” Ryan said.

“Michael,” Rachel’s voice came from the doorway, “what are you doing in here?”

He turned to answer and froze. She stood there, hands on hips and completely nude, and not showing even the slightest sign of being self-conscious about it.

“You there?” Ryan said in his ear, but Harvard could barely hear him over the sound of all the blood in his body rushing south.

“Have we stopped sleeping together?” Rachel demanded. “I don’t remember telling you to go back